


In the Cradle of the Rift

by Andreinightleaf



Category: Castlevania Harmony of Despair, 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: A little angst, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Headcanons are strong in this one, M/M, Multichapter, Some pain, Vampire Feeding, Work In Progress, some blood, working together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 15:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5169707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andreinightleaf/pseuds/Andreinightleaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Planned novelization of Harmony of Despair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He woke to the murmur of lulling winds.  
  
  It was not an uncommon occurrence. When not slumbering for centuries inside a dark, coffin-like structure, it was the manner in which he woke up usually. In fact, it had been a little more than two centuries since he had last slept for what he had desired to be eternity. Except—there was no warm fabric beneath him besides his own cape, and there was no body huddled close to his own.  
  
  The winds could be heard, but not felt. He was most likely surrounded by four walls.  
  
  Trying to move proved to be a heinous idea immediately; his whole body ached and hurt in a manner he had felt only few times before. Letting out a pained breath, he went still, knowing that moving would not be possible within these conditions. When incapacitated, it was always best to garner as little attention as possible to yourself, lest an enemy spot your movement and take advantage of your moment of weakness. He focused solely on these thoughts as his eyes fluttered open, still heavily lidded as marble archways reaching towards the ceiling entered his camp of vision.   
  
  …The ceiling was relatively tall. Surely he could not be inside a simple house, a cottage. A mansion, at the very least. Dim candle firelight lit the way of richly ornated columns and lush crimson drapes, woven with detailed golden embroidery. It was nighttime, judging by the muffled singing of the wind sounding so close to his ears signalizing windows nearby, yet the only source of light coming from candles.   
  
  Familiarity…the feeling was both warm yet dreaded, a soft blow of remembrance caressing along his skin and leaving frosty pinpricks in its wake. The dread hovered over his heart, yet his features remained perfectly neutral, golden orbs gazing hazily into nothingness beneath heavy lids. Few locales could be as ostentous, as spacious as this, and trigger such a sensation within him.  The castle whom he knew possessed said luxuries and design had been called his home for long, steady decades, and its halls and chambers would be eternally imprinted into his mind. Yet… how? How could it be that he found himself within these walls once more, when such threat had faded in the last years? The next solar eclipse wouldn’t occur in more than a decade. Soma was alright, as he could tell from their last encounter. Chaos had been subdued temporarily. His father’s macabre abode could not possibly have returned so soon.  
  
  As much as familiarity still stirred within his veins, he mused over the thought that Castlevania was not the sole option. Similarly to the replica created by Fortner’s cult, this locale could happen to be any castle or manor around the globe. As absurd as the thought of anyone being able to knock him unconscious and bring him anywhere was, it danced among the possibilities alongside Chaos’ manifestation. All suggestions that rose up to him sounded as egregious as the last, yet in the half-conscious state he found himself in, he could do nothing else but mull over them.  
  
  His form was slowly, very slowly becoming used to being awake. He was unaware of how long had gone by since he had regained the slightest bit of awareness, the winds’ murmur his sole company throughout his musings. Experimentally, he raised his fingers to test if the pain still lingered in his limbs, but there was only a dull ache on his wrist. Deeming his state satisfactory enough to defend himself, he pushed gloved hands onto the cold ground for leverage, slowly raising a protesting upper body to face the corridor ahead.  
  
  Alucard tried blinking away the haze in his fulvid gaze, taking note of the modest embroidered red carpet leading the way towards the next chamber. Windows of sturdy wooden frames littered the wall to his right, while another sect of the room stood to his left shrouded in darkness, dimly lighted vintages faintly discernable among the shadows. It was most certainly a castle’s layout, if not at least a cathedral’s or manor’s, and the fact did not serve to instill peace of mind within him. If he desired to discover where exactly he was and why, then he’d have to explore the locale. Even if he could simply break one of the windows and fly away to scan the landscape instead, it was not in his instinct to leave the place until he understood what could be possibly going on.   
    
    Standing up was much more difficult than sitting, and left him in a dizzy spell that made him seek leverage on a nearby pillar. When his boots softly knocked against the wood, several squeaks sounded from the end of the corridor, and with his spiraling vision, the dhampir could now note a group of bats exiting the next chamber and flying into the corridor. They didn’t seem to have noted his presence (or simply chose to not act upon it), a flurry of wings swishing by towards the end of the corridor. He would have turned his neck to see where they had gone, but the dizzy spell hadn’t yet subsided, and he preferred to not feel bothered about it, as they didn’t seem to be hostile.   
  
   Many minutes passed by in a swish, and now he was walking towards the next room, intent on inspecting it for the presence of creatures designed by Devil Forgers. To his dismay, the chapel-like chamber held a Sniper of Goth and an Axe Knight, aside from a few other bats which seemed harmless. The stained glass windows to his left were now much larger than before, and due to the sudden change of layout, he could most likely guess that this was indeed an incarnation of his father’s castle. With a soulful sigh, he unsheathed the Alucard Sword delicately, just as the Sniper readied an arrow his way, and attacked.  
  
  The Axe Knight was swiftly beheaded, and after this jump, he nearly flew in the other creature’s direction and struck it down. As both enemies faded into steam, he landed gracefully upon the wooden ground, sheathing his sword once more. The present bats emitted soft noises, waving their wings from where they hung from the ceilings and various pieces of furniture, and some flew down towards the blond. Once they reached their target, they simply landed on his covered shoulders, clung to his shirt, and cuddled him. At this sweet display of affection, Alucard could not help a small smile, caressing the bats gently with gloved fingertips. They squeaked happily, and clung to him even as he scanned his surroundings carefully. The chamber seemingly had two ways out, reachable by stairs behind him and in front of him. One would probably lead to a dead end, while the other would allow him to thread deeper into the castle. However, knowing which one was which…  
  
  As he started walking, the bats clung to him for a little longer, before leaving him be and flying away, with the exception of the bat on his right shoulder, which still held onto him. He allowed the small creature to stay there, and chose the front path first. The rooms he went by were reminiscent of the Clock Tower, holding a few Fleamen and spinning gears, but nothing too fatal. His vampiric abilities and training allowed him to jump by most spikes and other hazards unharmed, but now, he had a small bat to care for, too. After he realized that it was a dead end, he placed the little one inside the collar of his cape, and it chirped softly in response.  
  
  The first stairs he’d come across led upwards, and it was in them that he reached a darker, damp chamber with stonework in the walls. A single Fishman jumped down from above, but he was able to make quick work of it before it became a bother. Analyzing his paths, he could see that the immediate western corridor led to a dead end, and that he’d have to climb more to reach the likely two other paths. Once he’d done so, he chose the continuation of the stonework chamber as opposed to the room with an organ, and transformed into a bat to fly over the pool infested with Fishmen. His little bat companion became confused upon his transformation, but followed him regardless.   
  
  Upwards climbing, enemies, rotating gears, moving platforms attached to the walls. It would be a lie to say that the dhampir hadn’t begun to tire, and the small one perched on his shoulder eventually fell asleep, huddled up to the warmth he provided. Was this manor as large as the others were? He hadn’t yet come across a definite ceiling, though he did find the ends of the castle east-west wise. The latter fact made his predicament lean towards a smaller place, but its entire layout could even be built up like a tower, so there was no way he could be sure. He’d just have to keep going, find out where he was (aside from being in the castle), and why he was here. If possible, also if Dracula could be found anywhere in this place.  
    
    He could tell that the patterns were very uneven this time. Castlevania was usually divided into sects, areas that had the same ‘theme’ to them for whole rooms and corridors until a door opened the way to another area. Yet this time…only three rooms at most with the same theme were placed together. It was almost like each room was a different sect in itself, instead of entire areas. The castle was behaving as if it had pulled itself apart, then stitched itself together randomly. Memory already did not serve too much with each visit to the accursed building, but now, it would serve very, very little.  
  
  Rushed steps echoed from above. Alucard raised his head and sword sharply, only vaguely registering that they seemed to be much too light and coordinated to belong to a monster. But he didn’t have much longer to ponder on it; a form of white and blue tones came within his vision high above, and even though the distance was great, any heavier object could make the fall within seconds. His eyes widened and he barely managed to drop his blade to the ground  and position his arms before the body fell with great momentum onto his grasp. Had it been any more unexpected, he would have fallen along with the other.  
  
  After the initial shock at such exhilarating, unexpected entrance, the dhampir felt another one upon recognizing the one in his arms almost right away.   
  
  Soma was panting heavily with the effort of the run and the impact of the fall. His eyes were currently closed, part of his fringe disheveled and sure to obscure his vision if he were to open them. Instinctively, Alucard quickly sought wounds across the other’s body, finding some mere scratches and minor rips on his clothes. He seemed to be faring rather well.  
  
  “Axe…” Soma breathed, still without opening his eyes.  
  
  The blond raised an eyebrow briefly in question, but his expression lighted in realization soon afterwards. He managed to run forward seconds before a huge axe came spinning down from above, creating a dent in the ground where it landed. Still with a firm hold on the younger, he mildly glared at the enormous blade—belonging to an Armor, no doubt. They would be safe for now, under the lower ceiling.  
  
  Upon turning back to look at the one he held, he was met with wide sapphire eyes staring evenly at him. He tensed up under the gaze, not sure about what reaction would proceed. The other had never seen him in this form before, and he could as well be a complete stranger to him. Would he recognize Arikado’s features in him, would he sense (correctly) that he was a vampire? He did not know how to react upon being gazed at with silent surprise, and did not want to be the one to speak up. After all, even his voice could give himself away.

  
  The Japanese male had frozen in place ever since his eyes had focused enough for him to discern the features of the one who had caught him. And…what beautiful features, at that. His mouth had gone dry at such breathtaking sight, his already limp body refusing to regain movement. He couldn’t help noting the familiarity of that face, but considering the current circumstances, that was the least of his concerns at the moment. Pale blond locks, golden, mildly slit eyes, dark clothes…hadn’t he heard this description before? He rummaged in his mind for answers, but the urge to ascertain if the other was an enemy or not was far more important at the moment.  
  
  “I…I fell. Sorry.”  
  
  Smooth, Soma.  
  
  The blond shook his head lightly, scanning the other’s body once more at the statement. “It is… quite alright. You were being chased, correct?” Though his voice undoubtedly would sound familiar to the younger male’s ears, it would earn him nothing to pretend that he was mute. He needed to know how the other was faring, if he knew of anything that was happening, and why they were here. And if they would start walking together from now on, communication was simply a must.  
  
  That voice…it was Arikado’s. It couldn’t be anyone else’s. Wait—could this man be a past incarnation of him? A brother or cousin? It wasn’t likely that they were the same person; Arikado had mid-back length raven hair, and he had blond hair that was seemingly much longer. He could seemingly feel a connection from him, the same he felt for Arikado (though much more mildly with the latter), but… urgh, did he have to ponder on this now? The other didn’t seem to mean any harm, and truly, he was quite tired from fighting enemies all day. “Yes, by two Axe Armors.” He breathed, gesturing lightly, “I was trying to make them get separated, but was cornered at a dead end—that balcony up there. I thought I’d survive the fall, so I jumped.”  
  
  A few moments of silence, and Soma started to realize that he was still being held by this beautiful man. He flushed a bit, not used at all to being carried bridal-style by anyone. “Um—” He shifted a bit on the other’s hold, “I’m… fine. You can put me down.”  
  
  A curt nod, and Alucard carefully placed the teen down. After the younger dusted himself off in a nervous gesture, he felt like it would be positive to offer him advice. “Do not try to jump from this height again. You could have broken your legs, or worse.” He spoke evenly, and walked in a fast pace towards the spot where he’d dropped his blade to get Soma, retrieving the sword and sheathing it. In the same pace, he returned to the other’s side.  
  
  “Well, I knew it was dangerous, but sincerely, at the moment I thought that broken legs sounded better than being chopped in half.” The white-haired male scratched the back of his head, but then straightened himself. This was a stranger, after all; he couldn’t let his guard down. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to not do it again. Um—by the way, I am Soma Cruz. My parents are Spanish, I know.” He added quickly.  
  
  The taller male paused, still not sure if it would be best to reveal his true identity to the teenager. Considering the latter’s connection to Dracula, it would most likely cause some effect, maybe quite an undesirable one. Saying that he was Arikado was out of the question, and creating a third identity equally did not sit well with him. By the heavens, he hoped that his choice would be a right one… he would expect that the other was strong enough to control this hidden part of him. After all, even his physical appearance should have stirred something within him, but he seemed to be just fine.  
  
  “Alucard.” He muttered simply, taking in the youngster’s features carefully as he spoke. The bat seemed to have woken, and chirped softly next to his neck.  
  
  “Alucard…” Soma squinted lightly, the connection he felt seemingly strengthening with the uttering of the other’s name. Then something clicked inside his head, and sapphire eyes widened in realization. “Wait—Alucard, son of Dracula? The one who fought alongside the Belmonts for centuries?” He sputtered in disbelief, taking in the other’s features once again—flowing hair, fulvid eyes, black attire, adorned sword, visible fang tips jutting out onto his lower lip. All descriptions Julius had mentioned to him…it couldn’t be…  
  
  A small nod was his answer, though the dhampir never lost his composure.  
  
  Oh, no. What was he supposed to say? Dracula’s son, and he was the reincarnation of Dracula. He swallowed thickly. Did the blond even know that? He’d never seen him around, but Julius did say that the dhampir was still alive and going. Maybe he knew, due to his vampiric powers. But—well—the thing was, it was a bit awkward. And he’d never imagined meeting him before. Not that meeting a Belmont had been something normal and usual either, but Julius was quick to befriend, and though possessing inhuman characteristics like himself, he was still pretty much human, unlike the being that stood before him. Alucard seemed untouchable, ethereal, timeless, something completely out of his world. Something he wasn’t supposed to befriend, probably. He simply couldn’t grasp the notion that someone standing by his side had been alive in the fifteenth century. That someone so human was a vampire. Well, a dhampir, but anyway—at least his existence wasn’t as ungraspable as Chaos’. Hoo boy, Chaos. Life simply wasn’t the same for him after that battle—not that it had been normal ever since he had been warped inside Dracula’s Castle inside an eclipse. What wasn’t there to grasp, after all of this?  
  
  “I…” The teenager started a bit awkwardly, crossing his arms and looking at his feet. “I know Julius Belmont. He’s told me about you.”  
  
  The other seemed to be safe, thankfully. No signals that Dracula’s soul had responded. “Indeed. He has told me about you as well, Soma.”  
  
  The younger visibly tensed up. He really did not know what would be the reaction of the guy’s son knowing he was the reincarnation of said guy. “Did he say anything about… Dracula?”  
  
  So, he was worried that he would disapprove of the other’s status? It seemed quite a natural reaction, coming from him. “I am aware that you are my father’s reincarnation. Do not fret over it. I know you are fighting his influence even to this day, and that you’ve won all previous battles against it. I hold nothing against you, so do not worry.”  
  
  That was certainly good news for Soma. If he already knew, there was no point in being overtly careful about it. He could act more naturally; about his powers, worries, anything. Alucard could even help him with the knowledge he held, perhaps. Being the vampire lord’s son and having been around for more than six centuries had to have some advantage, after all.  
  
  “That’s…good to know.” He tilted his head to the side, uncrossed his arms, and then nodded. “So, yeah, I am Dracula’s reincarnation. With these soul-absorbing powers and all.” He walked towards the taller male, and halted by his side. “Well, I discovered a path forward up ahead, before those two Axe Armors came after me. Deeper into the castle; that’s where you’re going, right?”  
  
  “Yes.” He turned the other’s way after a brief pause, “I suppose that you do not know why we are here?”  
  
  “No clue.” The younger shrugged, drawing up white locks behind his ear absentmindedly. “But this is Dracula’s castle, isn’t it?”  
  
  “It would seem so.” Alucard affirmed, not having seen any elements that proved the contrary. This would have been the fifth time he’d stormed the castle, so he was well-versed in its shapeshifting architecture and distinctive chambers. If the place turned out to be something else entirely, he’d  honestly be quite surprised. “Would you mind leading the way?”  
  
  “Not at all.” Soma breathed, unsheathing his sword and pointing at the platforms that would lead them to the balcony with it. “Prepare yourself to fight.”

 

==========================================================================

The ending seems to be so rushed, groans. Well, this is chapter one, and hopefully the others will come around in this lifetime. I have most of the fanfic played out in my head; the problem is writing it down. The other characters will come eventually, and pairings will be revealed soon. 

I took the liberty to tweak the game a bit, because most things that do make sense in the game would not make sense in a more realistic setting. For example, I am probably going to ignore the existence of many switches, and Alucard and Soma can easily fly over obstacles that would require a puzzle to go through. 

Other elements which are different between canon and my headcanons will pop up along the story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soma confronts Alucard about his memories.

  With the both of them working together, the Axe Armors fell easily by their blades. To Alucard, having a companion by his side during battles was much akin to the events transpired in 1476, where he, Trevor, Grant and Sypha would make quick work of most of his father’s underlings. As painful as some of these memories were and as much as he regretted some actions he’d done, these had been golden times for him and his friends. There was a time where he’d be uneasy about calling them more than acquaintances, but with time he’d learned that they were more than that, and how the bonds of friendship were the purest and strongest of all.

  
  “Maybe we are just halfway across the castle, really. All this trekking and no answers.” Soma breathed out, a little tired after fighting a floor littered with the Armors. “Why would the castle be back anyway? Wasn’t it still sealed for at least a few more years?”

  
  The dhampir was taken away from his small reverie, and could only shake his head. “I do not know. I also did not expect it to be back so soon—and not under these circumstances. We were taken here immediately.”

  
  “Yes, pretty much.” The younger male placed his hands on his hips, glancing towards the enormous clock engraved into the wall which seemed to bear a thin sheet of ice on its surface. “I only remember how everything went black, and then I woke up in here. Not so much different from my first time, but unlike now I did understand why it happened in that situation.”

  
  “We might find our answers further ahead. This castle does not seem to be as large as the others—we’ve already found the edges east-west and north-south wise. Our doubts might be quenched soon.”

  
  A brief period of silence, with Soma pondering further on their situation. “…Do you think we’ll find Dracula at the end of this?” He questioned quietly, unsure what it would be like if he met the lord of shadows himself. A reincarnation was not supposed to meet a past incarnation, right? He wondered if something terrible would happen or if all would be relatively normal; fight him, defeat him, and that would be it. Soma was hoping for the latter. Not like he’d ever seen the vampire lord before, but considering that he defeated Chaos and Menace, maybe he would not be impossible to defeat. The Belmonts did it several times before.

  
  “I cannot say.” The blond shook his head once more, light locks swishing about with the motion. His thoughts were more or less following the same line as the other’s. “If you are not affected, I would suggest we both defeat him. I would only request that you try your best to remain unaffected.”

  
  “Will do.” The teen muttered, looking down and then up at the other once again. “If we are reaching the end of this, would it be best for us to continue on or rest?”

  
  It was at that time that Soma’s stomach chose to rumble, and he flushed and squeezed his eyes shut at that. Could he be any more embarrassing in front of a more or less stranger?

  
  “Perhaps you should eat first.” The dhampir pointed out, mildly amused by Soma’s reaction to the involuntary action. “We seem to have plenty of time in our hands.”

 

 

  In the end, they ended up backtracking to fetch a bowl of ramen Alucard had seen during his exploration. The room was on the top of the castle, a colder edge where they could see icicles hanging outside the window. Wherever this place was, it was surely gelid and probably uninhabited; so far, behind the windows, all they had found were a night sky painted with clouds and blessed with the light of a full moon, and mountains and forests covered in inky darkness.

  
  They sat in silence as the white haired male ate, the latter glancing at the blond every once in a while. Even if they didn’t talk, Soma’s mind was reeling rapidly with thoughts, from their current situation to where they were to where these foods came from to how alike the dhampir was to Arikado. Especially the last thing. A possibility he hadn’t thought before was if they were indeed the same person; considering Alucard’s magical powers and the advanced manners of disguise in the twenty first century, it wasn’t a ludicrous idea. He might not have many proofs aside from the physical characteristics, but he’d gathered enough from Arikado to know he was probably not a normal human. He’d never seen  him eat, for starters, and he seemed to know much more about Soma—and Dracula— than he knew himself. The connection wasn’t absurd, and it even explained lots of things left unsaid by Julius and Yoko.

  
  How should he even bring this up, though? He swallowed thickly, having finished the ramen and holding onto the bowl with a firm grip. Should he actually even bring it up, really?

  
  “Alucard…” The teenager started uneasily, setting the bowl onto the ground, but still holding onto it with one hand. The other looked at him with an even expression, encouraging him to speak. “Your features…” He awkwardly gestured to his own cheek, eyes. “They are…familiar. Seem like the ones of someone I know.”

  
  The blond stiffened lightly, though not visibly. He’d known that the other would not remain oblivious for long. “Proceed.” 

  
  Soma felt uncomfortable under the dhampir’s gaze, feeling like an idiot for bringing this up like that, but it was an answer he wanted to have. He couldn’t have thought Arikado and Alucard related before, as he’d never even seen Dracula’s son by that time, but now that he did, it all sounded more and more connected. “Well…from my time, I know this man who goes by Genya Arikado. He was the one who guided me when I was first brought to Dracula’s castle inside the eclipse. He knew a lot about Dracula, the place, well, he just seemed to know everything, and…you two look so much alike.” He swallowed thickly again, not knowing if he should ask the question outright. He could either get it right flawlessly, or completely miss. Not that he’d lose anything if he was wrong, though. “So, I was wondering….um…considering you both knew Julius and all, have magical powers, and seem to know the same things and act the same…I…could you answer me if you are the same person? Might sound completely out of the way of me, I know, but, it’s just been gnawing at me ever since I met you.” He tucked pale strands behind his ear in nervousness, “I feel the same sort of connection from you both, too, so something tells me that it isn’t simply a coincidence.”

  
  As expected, Soma had put together the information. Alucard hadn’t expected any less from him; he just hadn’t known when it would be brought up. Now that it had, he was still unsure if he should leave the other in the dark or not, despite all of the thinking he had put into it ever since he’d met the teenager in this form. Lying was easy; he could simply say that he’d never even heard of Arikado before, and the other would not have enough proofs to fight him in his statement. However, Soma knew too much for him to want to lie like that, and he was supposed to be trustworthy. The connection he felt towards him was obviously the connection his father had with him, so that couldn’t be easily explained. Or rather, he could mention that the both of them were vampiric, thus he felt like that; but it was still omitting too much.

  
  He’d been asked a straight question, and the younger probably would not leave the situation alone without answers. The teenager was waiting patiently to be responded, fidgeting nervously but still focusing entirely on what he would have to say. With a silent sigh, Alucard finally decided; he just hoped Soma would not distrust or be mad at him for it. “I indeed am he.”

  
  Unknowingly, the white haired male’s eyes widened, his hand falling away to join the other close to the bowl. It was both an expected answer and quite a shock, and a myriad of emotions struck him all at once, amidst them a feeling of ‘I knew it’ and slight betrayal. It was what he’d wanted to hear, wasn’t it? Yet—how could Arikado have hidden this fact from him?…Maybe…maybe he’d been afraid that Dracula could react. Hell, even Soma had been afraid that the vampire lord’s soul would react when he met the dhampir, if ever. So he shouldn’t feel betrayed at all, though if he was to be honest with himself, he truly did want to have known that connection sooner. It’d make things much more understandable for him.

  
  “You…” He attempted to start, but knew he’d be speechless for some time. After all, it was a mind-blowing discovery, even though he’d pondered on it before.

  
  “I am sorry, Soma.” Alucard could only apologize for now, scooting over so he grabbed the bowl from the other’s hand and placed it on the edge of the room. The teenager seemed to be confused as of where to look; his sapphire gaze switched between blankly staring ahead and gazing at the blond. The latter briefly wondered if he would be screamed at.

  
  Nothing came for long, lingering minutes, however. It was then that Soma shook his head rather hastily to rid himself of his reverie, and rubbed at his face as he stared at Alucard, not knowing if he should expect a reaction or not. A few more minutes went by like that, and the teenager sighed deeply as he made to regain his composure. “You—I—maybe I should say that you don’t need to apologize? You were afraid that Dracula would react, weren’t you?”

  
  “I was. Besides, I was already working undercover since before 2035, so it would make more sense if I kept my secret identity throughout the ordeal. It tempers with my powers a little, but nonetheless, considering I did not know as much about you at that time, I couldn’t risk making you see me in my true form, or making it known that it was me. Is that fair enough?”

  
  “Y…yeah…” The teen muttered, playing a little with the ends of his hair. It all made sense, really, so he shouldn’t worry as much as he was. Still, though—what a finding.

  
  “Rest now, since you just ate. It wouldn’t be nice for you to fight with a full stomach. If you may, sleep.” Alucard helpfully pointed out, returning to the previous spot where he’d been sitting and settling himself down again.

  
  The dhampir was right. Soma nodded, wondering if he should just rest or take a nap. The air was either lighter or heavier than before the confession, he couldn’t discern, but perhaps it was best for them to take a break before continuing to speak with each other. The teenager laid down, mind still reeling quickly, and took a last look towards the other before closing his eyes.

 

——————————————————————------------------------------------------------------------

Ahh this whole chapter just seems bad, rushed and short, I’m sorry.

I also keep forgetting about the bat Alucard found.  

The other characters will come eventually, and I didn’t reveal any pairings yet, though one of them could have been revealed here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soma and Alucard face Gergoth.

  Something had been bothering Soma since a few weeks past. It was with that thought in mind that he woke up with, rubbing at his eyes and brushing his hair absent mindedly. He nodded towards Alucard as greeting (had the other even moved through the time he spent asleep?), the dhampir nodding back as he caressed the head of a bat that rested on his lap. “Good morning,” The latter spoke, with the same smooth, even voice of always. The teenager had already gotten accustomed to it, especially since it was no different from Arikado’s, after all.  
  
  Despite the greeting, a single glance towards the window was enough to tell that it was still nighttime. Maybe time was frozen while they were inside this place; either that, or Soma had spent a whole day sleeping. Probably not. Or at least he hoped so—it felt more like a nap than anything else.  
  “I didn’t sleep for long, did I?” He inquired in a light voice, just to make sure that he was right.   
  
  “About an hour, I would say.” Alucard mentioned, tucking the chirping bat into the collar of his cape and slowly standing up.  
  
  “Right.” The younger nodded to himself, satisfied that it wasn’t for as long as it could have been. He’d never managed to sleep even eight hours during his visits to the demonic castles, unless he passed out. It happened before. One needed to always stay alert in a place like this, so sleeping wasn’t all that comfortable.  
  
  The thought that had been bothering him came to his mind once more at the memory of the castle. He squinted for a few moments; despite his stomach having rumbled before, it had been a few weeks since he didn’t feel proper hunger for some reason. That, and he rarely felt the will to eat anything. It was a gradual thing; as each week passed, he felt less and less like eating. He knew he had to, but that was mostly it—obligation. Such situation honestly scared him, because he didn’t want to feel forced to eat even his favourite meals. What could be happening to him? He hadn’t talked about it to anyone before, and bringing it up with Alucard sounded a little unnecessary. There were more important tasks at hand, after all. Still, he was afraid. He couldn’t even eat much, or else his stomach protested. The fleeting thought that he could end up not being able to eat anything in the near future was very concerning. If that happened, he’d die, right?  
  
  “Something on your mind?” The dhampir’s calm voice penetrated through his clouded thoughts, and he was slowly brought out of his reverie. He shook his head.  
  
  “It’s nothing much.” He mumbled, making to stand up and look around. “I already took a lot of your time, sorry—we should get going.”  
  
  An arching of a delicate eyebrow as the blond watched the other walk by him; there was definitely something nagging Soma’s mind. It could or could not be within his scope of interest, but perhaps it was best not to ask—at least for now. He started walking behind the teenager, back to the place where they started to backtrack.  
  


  They’d expected more monsters, but it seemed that, once defeated, more didn’t show up. They were once again threading by the room with the giant icy clock, and into a narrow corridor. It was then that they heard a roar that seemed to echo from close by, and shared glances both fulvid and sapphire, each drawing their sword and running along the corridor to reach its end.  
  
  Once there, the sight they were met with was a familiar one.  
  
  “Gergoth.” The dhampir said simply, moving his sword in position. Soma did the same, gaze looking mildly puzzled.  
  
  And it indeed was it; the dinosaur-esque creature bound by golden rings on its legs and with flesh rotten from time immemorial. Both males remembered it from Celia Fortner’s castle, where the white-haired teenager had to fight it to proceed along in the locale. It was both a disgruntling and pitiful sight; an once gentle creature which had been driven mad from imprisonment. Soma had desired to never have to fight it again, but here it was, standing just as it had in the year past.  
  
  “I thought I’d defeated it.” The younger whispered, glancing to his partner for some sort of explanation.  
  
  “The castle’s powers might have brought it back to life. It’s been that way with many of Dracula’s underlings; Medusa, Galamoth, the Giant Bat, Mummy, Legion. There is no more we can do for it, however. Ending its life might end its pain, and it’s probably necessary if we want to find our answers.”  
  
  A moment of pause, and Soma nodded. “Right. I just wish it hadn’t been this way.”  
  
  “I am aware. But now, we must fight.”  
  
  The creature readied its white laser towards them, and both jumped out of the corridor and into the actual arena to avoid it, and commence the battle. Alucard used his favoured sword to slash at the being’s legs, while the teenager did the same with the Valmanway. Gergoth attempted to bite, rush them into the wall, but both swiftly avoided his attacks, never stopping their own. Soma remembered his last fight with it clearly, where it had smashed through several floors and nearly broken his legs with the fall. If it happened again…  
  
  Maybe his luck truly wasn’t in the best shape. After the creature started bleeding heavily from all of their attacks, it jumped high into the air and crashed into the floor, causing it to crumble. Both males at first did their best to not receive a heavy impact from the fall, and afterwards had the idea to transform into bat, which they did, and watched as the monster’s weight brought it down various other floors. The dhampir’s bat was rather confused about his transformation, but flew by his side regardless. Soma and Alucard shared looks, and started flying down in Gergoth’s general direction, avoiding the giant laser sent their way once more. Once in the last floor, they transformed back into their humanly forms and took to attacking again, now having to avoid several floor’s worth of minotaurs, Armours and peeping eyes. It was a rather daunting task; the white haired male was thrown onto the wall and had his breath forcefully taken out of him, whereas the blond received a hard hit from the blunt end of an axe in his back. Alucard stopped focusing on Gergoth to strike his blade through the minotaurs’ hearts, and Soma was rapidly back on his feet to knock the Armours’ heads away.  
  
  More hits were added to their person before they were finally able to take the creature down, which let out a dying roar as it bled from several places, and at last slumped down, defeated. The teenager slumped as well, caressing the back of his head that had hit the wall and wincing. The both of them were panting harshly, sweat forming underneath their hairline as heat and pain engulfed their beings. The fight wouldn’t have been as worksome if there hadn’t been that many underlings—perhaps they might have gone unscathed otherwise.  
  
  “Are you…alright, Soma?” The dhampir breathed out, still feeling difficulty to breathe due to the hit he received on his back. He walked towards the other, calling his bat close to him.  
  
  “As alright as hitting a wall can be.” Soma would attempt to chuckle, except that it hurt. Instead, he winced once more, and took to rubbing his back.  
  
  Light flickered and shone in a circle above their heads, giving way to a golden treasure chest which floated down to their side. They questioningly glanced at it, then at one another.  
  
  “You suppose we…should open it?” The white haired male pointed at the object, not knowing if it would be safe to do so. It could be a mimic too, for all one knew. Usually they were a good sign after huge creatures such as Gergoth, but one could never be too careful.  
  
  ”Likely. They usually provide us with useful elements for proceeding. Mayhap it’ll also possess a clue for us inside.”  
  
  Soma didn’t move, but nodded. Alucard took it upon himself to open it, and a bright flash of light hit their eyes.  
  
  Soon enough, everything went black.

 

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This one also seems so rushed aaaah sorry. Caught in the Cradle of Decay is the first part, and it’s done. There will be more characters soon, don’t worry.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alucard needs help with something, and they find...

  Soma’s head was pounding when he woke up. Before opening his eyes, he winced and held his head, trying to slowly raise his upper body from the surprisingly cold and soft ground as he did. When opening sapphire orbs, he realized how blurry the images were at first, but was able to discern the shapes of Alucard’s form right away. It was a figure of black among a sea of white, thus not hard to spot. At least they hadn’t been separated.  
  
  “Alucard…?” The teenager tentatively asked, moving on his knees closer to the other as his vision slowly but surely sharpened. Visibly, the dhampir was panting and holding his head as well, having seemed to wake up before him, but not too long ago. His eyes had been closed, but opened at the sound of Soma’s voice.  
  
  “You’re awake.” He pointed out, sounding glad. “The treasure chest seems to have brought us to an entirely different locale. Take a look around.”  
  
  The white haired male hesitantly removed his hand’s comforting touch from his hurting head, and did as told, analyzing his surroundings. They were outside, it seemed, in a snowy landscape littered with pine trees, a small cabinet behind them and a house several meters away from them. Also visible was a Man-eating Plant and a Treant, right between them and the house further ahead. Snow fell gently from the clouded skies above, covering the ground with even more of the gelid, soft water.  
  
  Just as in the previous locale where they had been, Soma recognized this setting. It was if—as if someone was gathering places and beasts he knew and placing them all stitched up together in one place. Well, one or more places.   
  
  “We are not in the other castle anymore.” He pointed out, looking right ahead. “Are we still in a castle, though?”  
  
  He looked towards Alucard once more, and the dhampir seemed to be rather unfocused. Something was wrong; the teenager tilted his head to the side. “…Is it still hurting that much?”  
  
  “No.” The blond shook his head, then looked down towards the snow. “It’s merely…”  
  
  He fell silent. Alucard truly hadn’t expected to feel thirsty so soon; maybe the previous battle and being transported to here had drained more of his energy than he thought. Currently, there didn’t seem to be any animals around so he could drink some from them, but then again, it had been a little over a week since he had had blood derived from human-like beings. Animal blood could possibly not suffice… He knew Soma was there, but the possibility was entirely new to him. During the raids to the castes in 2035 and 2036, Alucard would occasionally feed from Julius and Yoko, trusted comrades who knew of his condition, but never Soma. The teenager had been much too occupied with his battles, and needed all the energy he could use; aside from that, revealing that he was a vampire was not among his plans at that time, for he feared that even that could trigger Dracula’s spirit within the young man.  
  
  However, things were different now. Soma knew him as Alucard, knew his past, condition, all that Julius and Yoko could possibly have told him. He might have nothing to hide anymore, and refusing to feed from him would likely only make things worse for them. He could only hope that such action would not trigger anything.  
  
  “Merely…?” Soma insisted, approaching the other a little more. Sapphire eyes mildly shifted in curiosity, and a little concern. Seemingly he was worried about the older male, and that feeling just created more conviction in the blond’s mind. There would be no trouble in that—hopefully.   
  
  “…I am thirsty.” The dhampir at last chose to confess, and looked evenly towards the other to gauge his reaction. The young man’s mind seemed to reel at first, but then his eyes widened a little in realization. Soon though, they returned to normal.  
  
  “That’s it?” He inquired, looking down briefly and then nodding to himself. “Don’t worry about it, then.” Without hesitation, he pulled at the collar of his coat, moving it aside so enough of his neck was exposed. The pale, milky skin delved nicely within the white landscape, and Alucard’s instincts flared, though still were kept under control.  
  
  “Are you sure of your decision?” The blond asked, wanting to make sure that Soma was truly okay with this. As a response, he received a nod.  
  
  “Of course I am. Can’t just leave you thirsty when I’m right here. You put up with me needing food, so it’s even.” He shrugged lightly with one shoulder, tugging on his collar as if insisting that he was alright with it. “I’ll be fine. Have already bled much more than a vampire could cause by biting. You also never requested me of this as Arikado, so I owe you that much. You’ve helped me through the worst times.”  
  
  Soma was very convincing, and truly, they owed each other some things. Considering that the dhampir’s condition was a necessity, it was even less of a problem than it could be. The young man seemed to not see anything wrong with it, and surely he would not take more blood than necessary. He knew how to stop, especially when he wasn’t in such a bad shape in the first place.  
  
  At last, the blond nodded, accepting the other’s help. The white haired male merely tugged on his collar once more and pulled his neck back so it was even more exposed than before, shifting a little in his knelt position to leave more room for the older to approach.  
  
  “You will need to stand up.”  
  
  “Oh? Sure, I can do that.” Soma mentioned, standing up and brushing the snow from his legs before returning to his previous position upper body wise. There was no fear reflected in his sapphire orbs; merely curiosity, compassion and mild uneasiness. It was the first time that he would be bitten by a vampire, and though he had an idea of what it would be like, he hoped that it wouldn’t be unpleasant. He never enjoyed being pricked with a needle, but he took it well, so maybe the whole ordeal would pass without any issues.  
  
  Alucard sighed through his nose, and approached the other. They looked at each other for a few lingering moments, before the dhampir prepared himself, reached for the neck with his fangs, and sunk them deeply inside the pale skin.  
  
  The first thing Soma felt was piercing pain. It was rather different from a medical needle; the fangs were thicker, but in a way felt much less uncomfortable. Regardless, he shut his eyes tightly and grimaced, involuntarily tensing up his entire body at the sensation. As the blond suckled the blood, however, the pain started fading away, giving way to a warm and cozy feeling of pleasure. The needles never brought pleasure, for sure.  
  
  To Alucard, the young man’s blood had an enticing scent and an entirely lively flavour, both much akin to snow, ice, and silver. It was in all an inviting combination, which he didn’t mind lapping and taking his time to feel the taste at all. If he was allowed to say, it was very similar to the Belmonts’ in its great taste, but also mildly like his father’s. It was a good combination, much like Soma himself. The dhampir had tasted many types of blood in his life; his mother, his father, Lyudmil, Trevor, Sypha, Grant, Richter, Simon, Julius, Yoko. All of them were unique, though the Belmonts’ tasted a bit similarly. Soma was a mixture of the Belmonts’ and his father’s, though also his own flavour, which was much appreciated.  
  
  Soma did not find the bite at all bad, though now his canines were starting to hurt unbearably for some reason. He didn’t quite understand, but nonetheless was forced to open his mouth to try and lessen the pain; it didn’t work that much. Why were they hurting? From what he knew, the neck was not supposed to be connected to his teeth. Not that he was really caring about biology right now, but, did they hurt.  
  
  As the dhampir did not plan on taking much, he started lapping to revel in the last bits of blood he’d take, and then licked the wounds in a way that’d make them hopefully close not too late from now. With that, he waited for a bit longer to finish, then moved away from the young man and rearranged himself. The other, meanwhile, was still with his mouth open from pain, and hadn’t quite been playing attention to what else was happening aside from the bite.  
  
  “What’s wrong?” The blond inquired, licking his lips in case there was a bit of blood still on them.   
  
  “Canines….hurt…” The younger shook his head, and tried to close his mouth now that the pain had been lessening since Alucard stopped biting. Huh. Strange.  
  
  Alucard raised an eyebrow, taking note of the confession for later pondering. This was a common symptom of thirsty vampires, but not humans at all—something was amiss.  
  
  Poisoned pollen slowly floated their way, and the dhampir immediately thrust the Alucard sword at them, destroying them in midair. Soma fetched the Valmanway with one hand, the other absentmindedly rubbing at the spot where he’d been bitten. It was a bit sore, but nothing else. It was not a bad experience at all for his first time being bitten.  
  
  With that, they proceeded on to defeat the plant and the Treant, finding a hole in the ground close to the house they’d seen. The teenager was the first to drop down, recognizing the interior ahead immediately. The other followed shortly, his reaction of recognition being the same. They were currently in a cave-like room, but ahead of them were the interiors of a cottage.  
  
  “More from Celia’s castle…maybe we are in another area like the first one. It’s not over.”  
  
  Alucard merely nodded, proceeding to take down an approaching Aliorumnas in a single slash. “We’ll just need to proceed until we cannot anymore. These apparitions should not be here, nor should these pieces of locales.” He turned towards Soma, “Also, thank you for offering your help. It was very much appreciated.”  
  
  “Huh? Oh, it was nothing, really. I owe you, as I’ve mentioned.” The younger explained, giving him a small smile of reassurance. “If you ever need it again, I’m here.”  
  
  He felt a bit weaker from having his blood drained, but not enough that he couldn’t fight, so he insisted that they did not need to rest yet. They had just woken up from being unconscious, after all.  
  
  More creatures met them and their blades as they went by the amalgamation of rooms; skeletons, Persephones, and an Axe Knight in the downward path they’d chosen. It seemed as if they were delving deeper underground, but if that was how the castle was behaving, then so would they. The next room wasn’t part of the cottage motif anymore, and also recognizable. The next had a giant chandelier, which they jumped down until they were facing a wide room with a purple background.  
  
  ”How’s this?!” A male voice echoed through the room, and the Bone Pillar far ahead vanished without a single trace. Alucard’s and Soma’s first reaction was to ready their weapons, but the next, familiar voice made them lower them once more; it was Julius’.  
  
  “Julius!” The teenager exclaimed once he spotted him, running in his direction, the dhampir trailing right behind him.  
  
  “Oh? Soma, Alucard!” The Belmont chuckled, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. “Fancy seeing you here. I thought we were alone in this place.”  
  
  At the mention of ‘we’, as the white haired male approached, he was reminded of the first voice they’d heard, and looked to Julius’ side. There was a blond young man standing there, hands on his hips, a satisfied small smile on his lips and aquamarine eyes. Prussian blue pants and shirt, a crimson vest, and boots, all much more similar to his own century’s clothes than Alucard’s. He seemed tranquil, even with a sliver of crimson blood sliding down his face from his hairline, a stray streak on his forehead, no doubt the work of Julius’ finger. If Soma could describe him in any way, he’d describe him as…dashing. Beautiful. A different kind of beautiful from Alucard, but beautiful nonetheless.  
  
  Apparently he’d been staring at him for too long, because he was drawn out of his reverie by said young man waving his hand a little in front of him, as if to snap him out of it. “Well, hello…Soma, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve heard of Alucard.” The new blond mentioned, sending a glance towards the dhampir. “The one who gave the Alucard Spear to my family and helped the Belmonts along the ages. I’m Jonathan Morris, heir to the Vampire Killer while the prophecy endured—well, before this guy came along.” He pointed to Julius.  
  
  The previous duo allowed their minds to reel quickly as they took all of that in. Alucard remembered giving the spear to the Lecarde family, and he remembered how both this family and the Morris one fought together to vanquish Dracula’s threat in the twentieth century. He also remembered looking into their cases; John Morris and Eric Lecarde defeating his father in 1917, and Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin doing the same in 1944.  
  
  Soma, meanwhile, could only remember Julius mentioning this prophecy, where the Belmonts would not be allowed to use the Vampire Killer until 1999. He only knew of the Belmonts, and not the other families that popped along the timeline. Again, he deeply regretted not having researched more into all of this when he could, but he tried to make up for it by asking Julius everything.  
  
  “If you were staring at the blood, I’m fine. The monsters enjoy hitting my head as much as they like.” Jonathan continued, “It’s happened before, I’m used to it.”  
  
  “I tried making it not happen.” The ponytailed brunet shrugged. “Jonathan here has taught me some things about what happened in his time.”  
  
  “You are the son of John Morris and Eric Lecarde, correct?” Alucard inquired, not having delved too deeply in his own research, even though he’d been awake from 1797 onwards.  
  
  “Yep, those are my fathers.” The younger blond breathed in deeply, a tinge of both pride and grief in his voice. “Great men, the both of them. May they have found each other in heaven.”  
  
  Julius rested a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder, while Soma simply kept staring in a surprised way. This guy did not seem to be any older than twenty, and he’d lost both parents already? Maybe the teenager should never have complained about his own parents…  
  
  “My apologies for reminding you.” The dhampir bowed politely, not having sought to bring painful memories to the other.  
  
  “It’s…alright.” The younger whip wielder said slowly, “I’ve had some time to get used to it. I know I’ve done everything that I wanted with them, for them, and that they also did everything that they could to make this world a better place. For me, my sisters, but especially for everyone.” He paused for a moment, “So, I have no regrets.” A nod, “…Better move on to another topic, huh?” He attempted to chuckle, but it mostly sounded empty. “Anyway, how did you two ended up here?”  
  
  Soma had been mostly speechless throughout the conversation, but now he found that it was a good time to pipe in. “Probably the same way you did; being warped to an entirely different place for some reason.”  
  
  “I had previously thought that we’d only changed locales, but Jonathan’s presence here makes it seem like we are in a time rift.” Alucard helpfully offered, “Before, since me and Soma came from the same moment in time, I’d gathered that we probably only had been warped in space, but since Jonathan comes from the twentieth century, it seems likely that we’ve been warped in time as well.”  
  
  ”So you mean to say that we traveled in time?” Julius asked, curious.  
  
  “A time rift is more likely. I’ve been to one before.” The dhampir turned to the Belmont, “A time traveler had brought me and various others, including Eric Lecarde,” He briefly turned his head towards Jonathan, “to a place warped in both space and time. Seemingly now is no different.”  
  
  “So if we indeed are in this kind of time rift…how do we get out?” Soma questioned as well, crossing his arms and pondering in the answer to his own question.  
  
  Alucard shook his head, “I do not know. In my previous time rift, the time traveler, Aeon, was the one who brought us back to our respective times. In this case, I see no traveler.”  
  
  “So, we need to reach the end of this…” Jonathan hummed, playing with the ends of his golden locks. “Seems like something the four of us can do, right?”  
  
  “Precisely. We’ve all stormed Dracula’s castle before. No harm in doing it again.” Julius said, satisfied.  
  
  “Soma here did it too? Guess I’ll have lots of things to learn from now on.” The younger blond mentioned.  
  
  “Well, I’ll learn too, considering I didn’t even know about your family before.” The white haired male said as well.  
  
  “We can talk along the way.” The dhampir pointed out, already walking away from the gathering. “We might be closer to our goal by now.”  
  
  “Let’s go up, since we already searched the entire back area and found nothing.” Jonathan sent a glance upwards towards the platforms. “We can lead the way.”

 

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Well, to start off, I have a headcanon about vampires and feeding that I couldn’t use here, or at least not write it down. It’s fairly unique but not quite what people want to see, though it’s not quite NSFW as well. People just wouldn’t enjoy it, is all.  
  
Also, this is where my headcanons start to become more prominent. You’ve seen how I made Jonathan son of both John and Eric, as dictated in my headcanon timeline. More stuff like that will show up as well, and if you see my timelines, you’ll already have an idea of how stuff will play itself out.  
  
Jonathan and Julius showed up! I might not tell any pairings, though. It might be rather obvious by now, but I’ll keep it a secret until it starts showing.  
  
The laptop turned itself off sometimes during writing this, so I had to rewrite some parts that had already been written previously. I hope this chapter in general doesn’t look too bad or rushed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan and Soma get to know each other, and more familiar faces show up.

  Jumping towards the closest platform wasn’t too difficult. The four of them reached it safely, though they could now be before a challenge; a seemingly locked door. They shared glances, and then Jonathan reached for the door in the other side of the room. Upon turning the doorknob and pushing it both forward and backwards, it became clear that the passage was indeed locked.

  “Hold on, I’ll find the key for this.” Julius offered, already jumping down the way they came to begin his search.  
  
  “Julius—” Alucard spoke, and then followed the Belmont down the path, cape and hair swishing behind him.

  Soma and Jonathan were left standing together in the room, and shared glances between themselves once more. The air between the aquamarine and sapphire gazes wasn’t quite stagnant, despite them having just met; perhaps the fact that they seemingly shared similar backgrounds made them trust each other more. It wasn’t common for one to storm Dracula’s castle, after all. That was already a major similarity.  
  
  “So—you descend from the Belmonts, right?” Soma decided to inquire, placing his hands on his hips and rocking a little on his heels; he could have decided to follow the other two, but they could defend themselves just fine, and besides, he could take advantage of the situation to get to know the young blond. If this castle was like the previous one, where they’d be warped to another place, he had the feeling that they’d stay together for some time.  
  
  “Yeah, on both my fathers’ side, surprisingly.” Jonathan grinned, “Me and my sisters is where the timelines meet in a way, you could say.”  
  
  Oh, he’d mentioned his sisters before. “Did your siblings fight alongside you in Dracula’s castle?”  
  
  The grin faded away from the other’s face to give way to a pensive frown, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head. “More or less—it’s complicated.” A heavy exhale, and he looked towards Soma once more. “My involvement in the events back in 1944 is part of a long story. If you’re ready to hear it—”  
  
  “Sure, sure.” The white haired male nodded; ever since the end of his adventure in 2035, he’d grown more interested in everyone’s story about the castle, so much like what he had experienced himself. Except, he hadn’t fought Dracula in person himself—not that it should be possible, or should it?  
  
  “Well, so. I know I was meant to play the Belmonts’ part of the story in the prophecy, but Dracula’s castle wasn’t supposed to come back in my time. My fathers had already defeated him and made sure of that. However, this one vampire artist called Brauner went to summon Dracula himself, and what he did was seal the vampire lord to have the castle for himself. We hadn’t known about that at first, but my sisters went to investigate regardless, and Eric, my only living father in that time, went after them. What happened was—well.” Another heavy exhale, and he had to pause for a moment to brace himself for the upcoming part of the tale. “Brauner turned my sisters into vampires and brainwashed them so that they would think they were Brauner’s daughters. He attacked my father and left him for death to take, and Eric—he saw it all.” Jonathan rubbed at his eyes due to the stress of remembering it, fighting a lump in his throat. “That would be when I became an orphan, but he still hadn’t traveled all the way to heaven. Instead, his spirit lingered with us and guided me and Charlotte through our way to defeat Brauner. Charlotte is the girl that fought alongside me all the way—we got separated when I was warped here. So, we eventually managed to save my siblings and turn them back into humans, defeat Brauner, and in the end, defeat Dracula. Then…Eric faded away, knowing that the three of us would be safe.”   
  
  Soma was listening to the story closely, eyes mildly widened at everything he was taking in. Considering how well everything went when Julius went on his quest, this might as well have been the first time he’d heard of a tragic story concerning the involvement with the castle. Alucard had one, as well, but—he’d barely asked Julius about the other Belmonts. He was sure many of them had horrid stories to tell, much like Jonathan, and—dear, he grew to hate his past incarnation more and more with time. One would never be able to tell at first glance the terrible experiences this young man went through, especially with his demeanour, and really, if the white haired male ever found Dracula, he’d give him hell for ruining his own and many people’s lives. So much for a teenager who hadn’t believed these stories were true back then. Hoo boy, he used to be so oblivious.  
  
  “I…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this.” Soma breathed, resting his head on his palm. What more could he say?  
  
  The blond piped up at that, nearing the other and shushing him quietly. “It’s alright. Really, I’m past mourning so much. I’m… okay.” He spoke hesitantly, mulling over his words carefully. “I’m just…glad that they’re together in heaven. Couldn’t wish for a better ending.” It was a whisper, and it was then that he noticed how close he was to the other teenager, though he didn’t pay much heed to it. “Me, Stella, Loretta and Charlotte—we are all alright.”  
  
  A long moment of silence was shared between them, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. They were quickly becoming comfortable around each other, and that was rather how the silence behaved itself.   
  
  They were still looking into each other’s eyes—Soma with an apologetic gaze, Jonathan with a reassuring one—when the latter decided to speak up. “And you? You’ve stormed the castle before, right? So, what’s your story?”  
  
  Oh, dear. Of course, the Japanese male’s story started and ended with the same confession; that he was Dracula’s reincarnation. Few people knew that fact, and to be honest, he hadn’t had to explain it to any of them. They were all part of the events happening in 2035 and 2036, and had seen them with their very eyes. A fact was though, that he hadn’t told Mina about it. She was a close friend, and one of the first who should know, but he thought that it was something too complicated to explain and not entirely necessary, unless he was dangerously close to becoming Dracula himself. So, he had kept his lips sealed about it to her, but Jonathan was an entirely different story. He _knew_ who the vampire lord was, knew all the deal about the Belmonts and Castlevania. To him, it’d be merely a matter of believing it or not. And Soma didn’t know if he was entirely worried about that.  
  
  “Well…my story starts with a thing. But I don’t think you’d believe me.” He started, crossing his arms, but never moving away from their close proximity.  
  
  “Why wouldn’t I?” The blond mentioned, mirroring the other’s gesture by crossing his arms himself. “We are in this together. And, believe me, after all the crazy things I’ve seen and done in the past years, there’s nothing I wouldn’t believe.”  
  
  “Oh, truly? Well, how would you react if I mentioned that I am Dracula’s reincarnation?”  
  
  Jonathan opened his mouth, but then closed it again. A few seconds passed by before he tried once more, “Julius said that Dracula was defeated by him and had his castle locked inside an eclipse in 1999. The action of trapping his castle was the reason he might have been defeated for good. What year did you come from, again?”  
  
  “2036.”  
  
  “Well, then it’d make sense.” He placed his arms behind his head and held it, “You don’t seem anything like him though.”  
  
  “Fortunately.” Soma shuddered, “Yet…apparently, if I lose control over myself, I’ll become just like him.”  
  
  “Oh, come on.” Jonathan’s eyes became a little wide, “A sweet guy like you? That sounds horrifying, to be honest.”  
  
  The white haired male blinked. The other thought of him as sweet already? “It almost happened last year, during my first time venturing through the castle. Actually, my only time, since the second one was a copy, but it was a whole lot like the original generally.”  
  
  For a moment, the blond winced at the first statement, and then raised a surprised eyebrow. “You stormed more than one castle? Sounds like a whole lot of adventure.”  
  
  The Japanese male shrugged, “Twofold unpleasantries. I sound like I had a better time than you, though.”  
  
  “Almost becoming Dracula sounds as horrifying as it can get. How did you find out?”  
  
  It was his turn to ask. “A long story. Would you like to hear it out?” Upon receiving a nod in return, he proceeded, “Well, my life was completely normal until 2035. Did high school, finished it, all that. And then came the day where an eclipse came up, and I was on the way to watching it in the temple of my friend’s family with her. And then, all of sudden, everything went black, just like it did when I was transported to…around here. When I woke up, I was already within the castle’s grounds, inside the eclipse. The first person I met there was Arikado, which I discovered recently as being Alucard working undercover, but he didn’t tell me what I was. For some reason, he knew.” He shook his head, still not knowing how to feel about how someone had known so much about him before even meeting him. Perhaps he felt the same connection as he? “Anyway, I braved through the castle, all that, met Julius, who at first had lost his memory, and then at the end I didn’t defeat Dracula. Dracula wasn’t there at all, presumably because of me, but there was this man, Graham Jones, who wanted to bring him back. Or become him. I don’t know—but I defeated him anyway, and turns out there was something even greater to defeat. After Graham though, that’s when I almost became Dracula. When I looked at the mirror, I seemed so different…my irises became crimson, my hair a mess. I don’t remember if I’ve ever felt as terrified in my life as in that moment. That’s when everything truly crashed into me—how important the cause of the Belmonts were, the truth of the castle, everything. I felt terrible for not having believed in all of it before. Maybe it was karma, as they would say.” He sighed, hugging himself a little.   
  
  Jonathan was avidly interested, shifting his weight every now and then. “I can’t blame you for not believing it at first I guess—depends on how you learned of it and where. You’re from…?”  
  
  “Japan.”  
  
  “Yeah, that’s pretty far from Europe. I’m Spanish, and the heir of the Vampire Killer with two fathers that defeated Dracula themselves, so it was impossible to run away from the truth of it. However, I have no idea about what the other people think about it. Especially in the modern world—everyone back in the medieval times used to believe in vampires and many other creatures, but in my time that’s seen as stupid, for some reason. I really cannot blame you if you were born in one of such families, besides being across the world, thus far away from the actual fact. Maybe in your time it’s even worse than in mine. With Dracula vanquished in 1999, the facts could have easily died away as myths. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t know how it feels like to be oblivious to it, but it seems like it’s easy to. Do not feel bad.”  
  
  Jonathan had a point, but still, it was hard to not feel guilty over his past self’s lack of care over the subject. Especially when it came to strongly bite him back afterwards. Well, there was nothing he could do, however; now, he was fully invested in the matters of Dracula, the Belmonts and its allies, and the castle. Anything related to that was worth knowing, and could help him along the way in the path he threaded.  
  
  “At least I seemed to wake up to it in the right time. Better late than never.” Soma breathed out, “Did it bite me back, though.”  
  
  “Don’t worry.” The blond leaned in even closer and wrapped a friendly arm around his shoulder, “You’re concerned about our matters now, and that’s what really matters. You won’t be alone in this journey, rest assured.”  
  
  “Well…thank you.” The Japanese male was a little surprised for a moment, but then smiled and nodded. “I don’t have much more to tell. Just there was this group of people the second time who wanted to ultimately resurrect Dracula, and made a copy of his castle for that end. I braved through it and at its end defeated an amalgamation of monstrous souls. Nothing very new.”  
  
  “Still, going through a castle full of dangers twice? It’s a lot.” Jonathan absentmindedly tapped his fingers against the other’s shoulder, “In my opinion, nobody should be forced to go through the horrors we all did, but, it’s our job, and it has to be done. Better us than anyone else.”  
  
  “I guess. We need to have a strong gut and endurance. I had trained with swords and other weapons before, but that was a real test. I honestly thought I’d die several times through it. And the absolutely horrid monsters, uf.” He shook his head quickly at the thought.  
  
  “Well, I actually almost died back then, but it wasn’t because of any of the castle’s monsters.” The blond tucked some golden strands behind his ear, “I fought the Whip’s Memory, which was in reality an illusion of Richter Belmont, and the Vampire Killer refused to land a hit on him. It has a mind of its own. In the end, I had to use many other weapons in my arsenal, and I was brutally hit several times. Stella and Loretta told me that they’d thought I was dead already when they saw me.”  
  
  “I know how tough it is to fight a Belmont. I speak it from personal experience.” Soma grimaced, “But, what is that Whip’s Memory? Why did you have to fight a form of Richter Belmont?”  
  
  “Okay, long explanation. As much as me and my fathers descend from Belmonts, and at least the Morris family is heir to the ownership of the Vampire Killer while the prophecy lasts, we still are not full blooded Belmonts, and thus we cannot utilize its full power—at least at first. That’s where the Whip’s Memory gets in the picture. It is part of a ritual that has to be performed for us to unlock the whip’s true power. The ritual is performed by members of the Lecarde family, for the Morris family. If I defeated the Whip’s Memory, which I did, then I would be able to harness the whip’s true power. There’s a catch, though, there always is.”  
  
  “A catch…?”  
  
  “We still aren’t full blooded Belmonts. The more we use the whip, the more life force it absorbs from us, and we slowly die due to its use.”  
  
  Aquamarine eyes were set, entirely serious. Soma sputtered.  
  
  “That’s complete b—”  
  
  “I know, I know.” Jonathan whispered, placing a gentle finger on the other’s pale lips. “I don’t know why this is, but I’m not kidding. I watched my father John die because of it, earlier than we all imagined.”  
  
  The white haired male’s eyes were subtly wide, and he looked down towards the whip the other male held, then back at him. Delicately, he grabbed the blond’s wrist and removed the finger from his lips. “Does that…does that mean you could die soon just because of that?”  
  
  There was a pause, where Jonathan bit his tongue inside his mouth as he analyzed the shocked expression drawn in Soma’s face. Maybe he should have just kept quiet. Curses.  
  
  A slow nod was his response.   
  
  The Japanese teenager looked back at the whip, and had the sudden urge to grab it and throw it as far away from the other as possible. He swallowed thickly. “Just—why are you still using it, then? Do you not realize the harm it will cause you?”  
  
  With a deep sigh through his nose, the blond unwrapped his arm from around the other’s frame, looking at the Vampire Killer himself for a moment. “I was going to stop using it, but while I have to keep fighting, I will. I just know Dracula probably has something to do with us being warped in space and time, and it’s his creatures we are battling here, so I can’t. It’s my duty to use it.”  
  
  “Jonathan…”  
  
  “I’m getting too old to keep running around like this.” A voice piped in from the side, and Julius came into sight with the key, followed closely by Alucard. “Here it is, boys.”  
  
  The two younger males immediately went silent, sharing a glance before looking towards the other two. The brunet who arrived shortly gave them a questioning look, before going towards the door and unlocking it without any preambles. “Here.”  
  
  “We also found foodstuffs and a first aid kit.” The dhampir mentioned, opening the kit and fetching some cotton to clean Jonathan’s forehead of the blood. The latter muttered a silent ‘thank you’ in return, feeling a little bashful, but grateful nonetheless. He hadn’t expected Alucard to be thoughtful in this manner, for something that seemed to be so small.  
  
  Though their conversation had been cut abruptly, both Soma and Jonathan understood what each other meant, and they knew that the other knew that. For their meeting not having happened even a day past, it was surprising how they could understand each other that well with unspoken words. The conversation didn’t need to be over, but for now, they understood that there were other things at hand currently.  
  
  


  “Yoko!” Julius, ahead of the party, exclaimed when he spotted her, crouched next to another girl by a door. She turned her head upon seeing him, and waved in a friendly manner. “Julius, come here!”  
  
  “Charlotte!” Jonathan followed after the Belmont, smiling in return as she smiled to him and held his hands.   
  
  “I didn’t think you were here, Jonathan. It’s good to see you’re alright.”  
  
  “Hit my head again, but all in a day’s work. Why are you crouched there?”  
  
  
  Soma and Alucard walked behind them, until both were next to Yoko as well. After seeing Julius, Soma hadn’t expected any less for her to appear.  
  
  “Again? Oh, well, at least you seem to be fine now. Not dizzy or anything?” The girl insisted, and Jonathan nodded in reassurance.   
  
  “There is a talking creature behind the door. I would imagine that it’s the Puppet Master, but I’m not quite sure yet.” Yoko added, placing a finger beneath her chin in thought.  
  
  “Him again?” Soma groaned, holding his head for a bit. “Why are all of them coming back? Defeating them once was already bad, but twice is asking too much.”  
  
  “This time, you’re not alone, Soma.” Julius pointed out, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “We’ll make quick work of him with the six of us.”  
  
  “Hopefully—and you—” The Japanese male turned towards Charlotte, “You were Jonathan’s partner storming the castle, right?”  
  
  “If you don’t mean this castle, then yes, that’s right.” The girl answered, “He told you about me?”  
  
  “Yeah, we talked a lot a few minutes ago. Nice to meet you, I’m Soma Cruz.”  
  
  “Charlotte Aulin, though you might know me already. It’s equally as nice to meet you, Soma.”  
  
  “Jonathan, this is Yoko. She’s a friend and ally of ours, from the Fernandez family.” Julius gestured to her.  
  
  “Oh, really? It’s great to meet you, Yoko. Belmont descendent Jonathan Morris here.” A short wave, “Your family name sounds Spanish, so we might have a lot in common.”  
  
  “My parents are Spanish.” Soma pointed out, shifting his weight. “Seems like there’s a lot of Spanish allies along the centuries.”  
  
  “My father John is American, but the rest of the family all hails from Spain. It’s where Eric lived and where they started the family.”  
  
  “I’m not Spanish myself, but my ancestors might as well have been.” The older woman mentioned, “Though most of the Belmonts hail from the Balkan area.”  
  
  “From what I know, most of my ancestors were Wallachian. Some Transylvanian, some Bulgarian—I’m from Romania myself, a little more modern than them, heh.” Julius piped in, “In any case, Dracula’s castle usually spawned around that area. It makes sense for us to be raised by it as well.”  
  
  “Which brings us to the question; do you remember the first Belmont? You know, the one who started this vampire hunter business.” Soma inquired, curious about how all of it started.  
  
  “The first to defeat Dracula was Trevor Belmont.” Alucard spoke, “The Belmont timeline is usually better remembered after his time.”  
  
  “Well, we have his diary in our personal library. I mean, the first Belmont’s, but Trevor’s as well—he was a knight and a baron who fought in the Crusades. Leon Belmont. His vow that the Belmont family would hunt the creatures of the night was a magical one that bound us to it, and I believe we’ve all been trained for that end.” Julius added. “The date he added to it was…around 1094.”  
  
  “Quite a tradition you guys have going.” Jonathan pointed out, impressed. “I personally don’t remember anything of my family before my grandfather Quincy Morris. Considering my other father belongs to a noble family, they have their history written somewhere, but I’ve not delved that deeply into it.”  
  
  “We would not know much without the diaries every single one of us kept. We do tell stories of our ancestors to our children and grandchildren, but the diaries go much more in depth about who they were and the things they went through. It’s a good read, if you guys are ever interested.” The Belmont offered.  
  
  “I wonder who is standing behind the door…” A voice coming from the other side interrupted their conversation, and everyone held their weapons and prepared themselves for the battle ahead.

 

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Yoko and Charlotte join the party. Most of this chapter is only talking—my apologies. I think I’m just rushing through this, to be honest, and the story in general just looks so icky. I don’t know how to make it better, though. I need some critics on it.


End file.
